


A Brave Man

by Nuerue



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Past Rape/Non-con
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23168965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuerue/pseuds/Nuerue
Summary: “Oui, fuck off Malfoy! We found her first.”Draco was right about knowing this man, which made what he did next make even less sense. He stepped between Hermione and the larger man and let out a laugh. He spoke with a confidence he did not feel.“Did you now? Then how would you explain my heir growing in that gargantuan belly?” Hermione breathed in quickly through her nose in a little gasp. Her mouth opened to say something, but Draco glared at her and she quickly shut it again, deciding to trust her natural enemy for the time being.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 18
Kudos: 99





	1. 1, a brave man

Draco wished he was a brave man. Say what you will about that being too Gryffindor of him but when he was a young boy he never pretended to be the ambitious knight. He was always the brave knight who saved the princess from the evil Muggle King. However, he grew up as he did, he was who he was. He thought about this as he heard the snickering of two men walking in front of him.

He quickly crossed the dark street, putting some distance between them and himself. He watched as the men quickly caught up to a young women with her hood up. She was either a mudblood or a muggle, with her muggle pants and tight fitting sweater that did nothing to cover up the fact that she was very much with child. Not that it was any of his business but it seemed to be a bad idea for a young pregnant women to be walking alone at night in the middle of a war. Whatever was in the bag she was holding must have been rather important, or the bint lacked common sense.

It wasn’t until he heard one of the men clearly say “expelliarmus” that he felt the urge to be brave again.

“Would you look at what we have here, Jimmy.” Draco knew that voice from his Father’s circle.

“Well if I’m not mistaken, we have found ourselves a pretty little Twofer.”

Draco felt his stomach turn and he started to feel over heated. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not his business and to keep waking. Which he might have actually done, had he not heard her voice.

His feet stopped in place and his head whipped back to the pregnant girl. There was no way he heard correctly. The brightest witch of his year could not be this stupid.

“Please give me back my wand and just let me pass. I’ve done nothing to you, and I don’t have anything you might want.” The witch actually had the gall to hold her hand out expectantly. There was no doubt that it was Hermione Granger. 

“Aw now, I wouldn’t say that” 

Draco feet moved on their own.

“I think we get a good couple o’ hours out of ya, at least-“

“There you are, you stupid swot.” Draco interrupted them, putting on his stoic face and gripping her arm harshly.

She quickly looked at him, and he could see the panic and confusion in her brown eyes.

“Oui, fuck off Malfoy! We found her first.” 

Draco was right about knowing this man, which made what he did next make even less sense. He stepped between Hermione and the larger man and let out a sarcastic laugh. He spoke with a confidence he did not feel.  
“Did you now? The how would you explain my heir growing in that gargantuan belly?” 

Hermione breathed in quickly through her nose in a little gasp. Her mouth opened to say something, but Draco glared at her and she quickly shut it again, deciding to trust her natural enemy for the time being.

The two men looked back and forth between them in shock.

“A half-blood Malfoy?! I never-” Draco cut him off quickly, expertly hiding his internal panic at what he just said.

“Oh, don’t be bloody daft. I would never sully my family’s good name with such filth. The girl is just an incubator, not that I should even have to be explaining myself to the likes of you, McKoile.” Draco sneered at the man before the sound behind him made all the blood run from his face.

“Perhaps not to him, but you will explain yourself to me, and in full length.”

Draco turned to see the emotionless face of his father. Trying to come to grasps with his new situation, Draco stumbled for the correct words to say.

“Father, I-”

“Not here, you imbecile.” Lucius Malfoy grabbed Draco shoulder, not too gently, and Hermione ear. He apparated with them.

It was so unexpected that upon landing Hermione fell to her knees and vomited. Draco did not feel much better, and the look Lucius was giving him was making it worse by the second.

“I will go retrieve your mother, and then you will explain…. That.” He waved a dismissive hand towards Hermione who looked to be in shock and was being cleaned by a house elf. He then turned and walked away. Draco waited until he turned a corner before he started pacing.

“What the fuck did I just do?” Draco was talking to himself but Hermione answered him anyway.

Her voice sounded small and confused.

“You lied for me. You lied in order to save me. Why? Why help me at all? Why claim my child is yours?”

Draco finally got a good look at his old classmate. She looked exactly the same, besides the pregnant belly and overall filth covering her face. He took a couple breaths before answering.  
“Do you know what a Twofer is, Granger?”

“Not reall-“

“A Twofer is a Two for one. You get to kill two mudblood at once when you kill a pregnant one. Apparently I am not such a monster that I would watch that fate befall you.” Draco seemed to calm enough to think rationally for a moment. “You need to go now, before he returns. My mother is kind, but when my father learns that I lied about this, he will kill you, or turn you over immediately.” 

Hermione nodded and stood up before she realized she was still wandless.  
“I never got my wand back from that man.” 

Draco groaned, they did not have time for this.  
“A house elf can take you.”

Lucius’s voice entered the room before he did.

“They will do no such thing until I have all the answers I seek. Sadly, that will have to wait however, as The Lord wishes to have a meeting with you Draco. Unrelated to this I assure you.”  
Lucius spoke to Hermon for the first time, without looking at her. “You will wait quietly out of sight until you are summoned if you know what is good for you.”

Draco wordlessly followed his father towards his father’s study. Bowing deeply upon seeing the Voldemort, before taking a seat in front of the large mahogany desk. The feeling of imminent death filled Draco, as it always did when in such close proximity to the Dark Lord.

“Report your update.”

Draco felt his heart pounding in his chest. He was almost certain that the day was going to end with his death.

“Yes, my Lord. We have not heard from the Giants in the east as of today. And the merpeople are requesting more outcome projections before they committing anything.”

“And the projections?” Draco had been fearing being the one to deliver bad news, even if he phrased it lightly it was not what the man wanted to hear.

“We have our best guys working on padding those numbers as we speak.”

“Padding? Is that required?” Draco knew he would be punished for the answer to that question, even if it wasn’t his fault.

However, before he could answer there was a commotion in the hallway right outside their door. Lucius stood and bowed to the Dark Lord.

“I will handle whatever that might be.” He started to excuse himself, but the door opened before he reached it.

In came Bellatrix Lestrange, dragging Hermione Granger into the room by her hair.

“Look what I found, dirtying your home, my Lord!” She giggled and threw Hermione at Draco feet.

“Oh my. Potters very own pet mudblood.” Voldemort said slowly as he raised his wand towards her.

Draco was never a brave man.

“No, please wait, My Lord!”

So why did he have to start today?


	2. 2. A Kind Man

Previously

“Look what I found, dirtying your home, my Lord!” She giggled and threw Hermione at Draco feet.

“Oh my. Potters very own pet mudblood.” Voldemort said slowly as he raised his wand towards her.

Draco was never a brave man.

“No, please wait, My Lord!”

So why did he have to start today?

And Now:

Voldemort raised one hairless eyebrow at Draco's outburst. 

"Do you object to a little light cleaning of the office, my dear Draco?" He asked not lowering his wand.

"Normally I would never, your excellence. You know my disdain for everything as abnormal as she is. However this one muggle I have been using as... well" He looked at Hermione again. Judging quickly her life against his, if this were to go wrong. "An incubator." 

It was two against one life. At least when he died he will have known he tried his best to do one good thing. There was no doubting the look that crossed her face as Hermione realized what Draco was doing for her. She had no idea how this crazy plan would ever work. All she knew was that he was risking his life for her again, and even if she didn't understand why, she would never see him the same way again. 

"Obviously, I am going to need further explanation." The Dark Lord looked annoyed but curious.

"You know my late wife, Astoria." At the nods Draco continued. "When she was at her worst we saw a healer that offered to freeze her eggs if we should want to have a child together after she had passed. We decided to do this and when she left me I felt the world end around me." So far it looked like he had a little sympathy from his father at least. "That's when I ran into Granger. I captured her and kept her as a slave for a while. One day I asked my healer if it was possible to somehow, fertilize the egg with my sperm and insert it into Granger. Using her as an incubator. If she dies during childbirth there is no loss, and my child can grow with Astoria as their mother and me as their father." Draco finished.

It was now a waiting game to see if the Dark Lord cared enough to not kill Hermione. To wait and see if he even believed a word that Draco pulled out of his ass. It was quiet for longer then he was comfortable before Voldemort gave what could almost be called a laugh.

"You might have found the only real use for these magic thieves. They hold enough magic to ensure a healthy pure baby and the mother has no worries about childbirth. Wonderfully done, Draco." Draco felt his chest loosen a little bit, before Voldemort turned to him and raised a wand to his chest frowning.  
"I am however very displeased that you withheld this experiment from me. The girl as your slave, the pregnancy experiment and seeing as she is well halfway through this, You have kept this a secret for at least 6 months. Crucio."

Draco felt every nerve spasm in his body, Hermione looked away shocked at how quickly Voldemort went from pleased to torture. Voldemort released the spell and demanded Draco stand up. Draco worked hard and got up enough to lean against the wall. 

"I am also displeased with your actions so far as one of my emissaries. You represent me, and if you were doing it well enough there wouldn't be delays. This girl is a detraction, I expect better the next time I see you. Crucio." 

Draco stayed up this time but turned so that his whole chest was now pressed against the wall, curving in on himself. He couldn't help the whimper that left him when the spell finally released. 

"And I am of course displeased with having to look at this filthy thing. She also has not yet bowed or apologized for her existence. Shall she receive this one or will you choose to receive it for your child?"  
Draco almost said Hermione's name when her sad eyes looked at him with pity and alarm. 

"It is my job..... as a Father, to protect.... my child." He said trying to stand straight again.

"I agree. Crucio."

Draco fell once again, seeing black spots. After the spell let up he could not find the strength to move again.  
He heard Voldemort move and felt his robes as he must have stepped over Draco's body. He heard Hermione inhale quickly and turned his head towards them. Voldemort looked her up and down before turning to Lucius. 

"This thing is filthy, no doubt from being hidden from us. That is no way for your grandson or daughter to be carried around. See that it is fixed." He commanded before turning to the door and stepping through to leave. He paused for a moment before turning back to Draco on the floor. 

"Congratulation's, my boy. Fatherhood looks good on you." And then disapparated. Draco's eyes grew heavy and he felt himself pass out. 

Draco woke up alarmed and in his own bed. He groaned as his muscles woke and screamed in pain. Staring to curl into himself he felt someone watching him, he looked up to see Hermione sitting in his wing-back chair with her legs crossed under her. She was wearing a periwinkle dress that looked far better on her then it had any right to. 

"You're awake." Hermione spoke and stood up cautiously. "You've been asleep for hours. I was worried." 

Draco grunted in response and sat up.

"My Father?" He asked drinking some of the water he noticed was on his side table. 

"He barely spoke to me. Mostly shouted at the elves to clean and dress me. He ordered you be brought here and I was lead here when I was done being seen too. Malfoy, I can't thank-"

"No need, women." Draco cut her off then motioned to be quiet with a finger over his lips. He motioned around him and then touched his ears. She could hear someone approaching the door. "Not like you to wait to be invited in, Mother" Draco called out. Hermione heard the door open and Narcissa walked into the room. 

She smiled at Draco and shut the door behind her. She cast a quick muffliato.

"My dear boy." She said softly walking forward, then proceeded to smack his head repetitively. "My sweet, stupid stupid son. My idiotic, dunce of an offspring" Draco hid under his arms from her assault until she walked away from him fuming mad. "Lying, to the strongest man in the world? About something this big?" Narcissa started walking towards Hermione before Draco spoke again. 

Draco felt panic wash over him. "Why do you assume I am lying?" She turned back and smacked his head again. 

"For starters, the wall of Black family members still has no link under your name. Secondly, Astoria's eggs are still in the family vault where we left them. And thirdly, I would know if there was a pregnant women in my home, even if you tried to keep her from me. You stupid boy." Narcissa seem exhausted from her yelling at Draco and her eyes turned once again to Hermione. 

"How are you, Miss Granger?" Narcissa asked kindly taking Hermione's hands in her own. 

Hermione looked to Draco who shrugged at her and lied back down. 

"I want to go home." She said trying to stop the tears from entering her eyes. Narcissa softly sighed and knelt down besides her. Summoning a throw blanket from a closet in the corner and wrapping Hermione in it. 

"I am afraid that will be a little while yet. First I have to guarantee that you going home will not mean the death of my son. So please be a little patient with me." 

Hermione nodded at the words and felt the warmth of the blanket. 

"Is the Father in the picture?" She asked Hermione and watched as she pulled back from her a little. 

"The father is one of your lot. Pulled me into an alleyway and did what ever he wanted to me. There is no Father." Narcissa nodded sadly and called for a House elf named Trinket. She ordered it to get some caffeine-free tea and some slippers. 

"There is no end to the recklessness of men drunk on power. I will not ask you if you want to talk about it, just know you can at any time." Hermione looked away from the surprisingly kind eyes of Narcissa and to Draco who was looking at her like something that was broken. 

"As unfortunate as it is how this child came into this world, it does simplify things a little. I have an idea of how we can actually pull this off. There is a spell that has been used in the case of sexual violence in the past. It is very dark and it will take sacrifice from both of you and myself. But when it is finished it should leave the genetic makeup of the child altered, it will replace the existing male genetics with Draco's. It will be painful, and it will take a lot." Narcissa started to pull components out of a satchel she had on her. "And it will require us, not you, tracking down the father of the child."  
She said this last part quietly looking at Hermione only long enough to gauge her reaction. 

Hermione nodded immediately, not worried as long as she had no part in that. If Draco was the type of person who would risk his life for someone else's child, she fully believed he would be a better father then no father. 

"Then we are all in agreement?" Narcissa looked from Hermione to Draco who was looking pale but nodded. Hermione looked down at her hands and whispered a weak 'okay'.

"Then lets start to clean up this massive mess my son has made. I don't know where you get this bleeding heart from, Draco, I know your father never raised you to be a kind man."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support! I had some extra time today so I got another chapter done! Hope you enjoy.


	3. 2. A Selfless Man

Previously:  
"Then we are all in agreement?" Narcissa looked from Hermione to Draco who was looking pale but nodded. Hermione looked down at her hands and whispered a weak 'okay'.

"Then lets start to clean up this massive mess my son has made. I don't know where you get this bleeding heart from, Draco, I know your father never raised you to be a kind man."

And now:

It had been three days. Only three days since Hermione was brought into the Malfoy Manor. Somehow they managed to get into several large arguments about every subject you could imagine, from house elfs to the war. From which book held the most helpful potion making techniques to the effects Quidditch at school has on kids study habits. They couldn't be near each other for very long before one of them would find fault with the other. 

Draco watched the young witch from behind his book. He had been trying to read up on what he would need to do for the Dark Lord when Hermione joined him. She insisted on looking up the spell Narcissa mentioned even after his mother insured her she was well versed on the subject.

Hermione's eyes flickered back and forth across the page, her fingers made little scratching noises as they worried the next page's corner, as if she just couldn't wait to turn it. She seemed to be very uncomfortable, shifting her weight from one hip to another in the large armchair, making a creaking sound, and stretching her back often. Every so often she would let a little frustrated sigh past her lips.

Finally, at her little whimper, Draco closed his book and gave her his full attention. 

"What do I have to do in order for you to be still and silent?" He did not raise his voice but still managed to startle her. 

She gave him a look and closed the book around her finger to hold her page. 

"I'm sorry, Malfoy, was my existence impeding on your research on how to more efficiently gain more support in order to win the war that would imprison or wipe out my kind? I will try to keep it down while I read all about how I am going to be ripping my womb apart and rebuilding it so it can comfortably hold your heir, and thereby saving your hide. Please forgive my heavily pregnant self for being slightly uncomfortable as I am, if you hadn't noticed, very fucking pregnant." She stood up and stormed out of the library. 

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and willed his legs not to follow the infuriating witch out. 

The only reason he was in this position to begin with was because he saved her. Funny how quickly she forgets that. He couldn't help the groan when his mother walked into the room looking for with him.

"Would it kill you to be civil?" She asked, not wasting any time asking for his side of the story. 

"It might." He bit back. He closed his book, officially giving up on trying to get any work done. Standing and walking to his work desk he put the book down and organised the notes he was taking. "She takes up every room she walks into, Mother. She is always making noise, and refuses any suggestion for help."

"She's pregnant, Draco." Draco rolled his eyes. 

"I know shes pregnant!"He motioned wildly with the papers clenched in his hand before shoving them into a drawer and slamming it shut. "Everyone knows that she is pregnant. There is no avoiding the fact! If you somehow managed to ignore her obviously larger stomach, you would be informed that she is fucking pregnant by her many reminders that she is fucking pregnant, whenever she fucking can." He noticed his mother flinch at his outburst and braced himself on the desk's edge. He took several deep breaths calming himself down. "I am sorry for yelling mother, but she is being completely ungrateful. I am here, trying my best to keep her and her whelp alive, and shes acting like I was actually the one to knock her up in the first place. " Narcissa nodded a little and rubbed both of Draco's arms comfortingly. 

"Everyone in this situation is under stress. Imagine being her, just for right now. In you enemy's stronghold." Draco started to open his mouth but Narcissa stopped him in his tracks by pointing a finger at his face. "And before you interrupt me again, Draco. We are the enemy. Regardless of saving her life, she is imprisoned here while we try to win a war that will end her life as she knows it. The Dark Lord is a visitor often and she is pregnant with someone who raped her, who might be someone we know, and have over sometime. She can not go home, and she can not do anything but accept the help of her childhood enemy. We are the enemy, until we do a lot more then continue to not let her die." 

Draco felt the anger he was holding onto seep out. Now feeling a bit ashamed.

Collapsing into his office chair, Draco deflates. Rubbing his face and then resting his eyes in the palms of his hands he asks, "How do we fix this?" 

"We have to get a couple of things before we can even attempt to. That is why I originally came in her for you." 

Narcissa sat in the empty chair next to him. She started rubbing his back trying to lighten the blow she was about to land on her already fatigued son. "Do you remember what I said about sacrifice?" Draco winced but nodded. "Well it this magic needs a sacrifice from me, you, Hermione, and whoever is the actual father."

"I just said that I remember, Mother" Draco muttered, mostly to himself. 

"Well from you what we need... well." Narcissa did not want to say the next words. She couldn't imagine how he would take the news, but she imagined that he would need time to think about this.   
Narcissa took a deep breath, "We need to sacrifice Astoria's egg." 

She said it softly, but by the way Draco whipped his head to stare at him, you would think she yelled it at him. His eyes flickered between her two before looking at his lap and filling with tears.

"How does that qualify as my sacrifice?" He asked weakly, sounding much younger then his 28 years. 

Narcissa rested her head on his shoulder. Feeling her stomach hollow in grief for him. 

"This is what remains of your love, your future. The exact wording could either ask for sacrifice of life or future from the one you love. The one you love is no longer with us. The only thing that would satisfy your sacrifice..." 

Draco nodded. "Ok, we will retrieve it from the vault today." Draco looked up and wiped his eyes pulling on his cold facade. He stood up and wiped his hands on his pants. "I probably would never be able to use it anyway." He might look normal if it hadn't been for his hands shaking terribly. He started to walk away.

"Draco." 

"I knew it would be a sacrifice, but I... never thought." Draco's eyes started to fill again and he stopped, his mask crumbling almost as quickly as he put it up. Slowly he leaned against the bookcase next to him for support. 

Narcissa was frozen until she saw his hands go back to his face, and heard a whisper quiet, "Mom." And she held him until his shoulders stopped shaking and he could breathe evenly.

________________________________________________________________________________

Hermione stepped away from the large wooden door she was just facing. 

She had intended to return the book she stormed away with when she heard them talking. She felt her heart in her throat as she listened to the man she always thought as heartless cry into his mother's shoulder. Shaking her head she quickly walked away from the scene, and towards the door she knew lead to the gardens outside. 

If she had known what he was being asked to do, she would have never been so quick to agree. Narcissa had explained that Hermione's own sacrifice would be extreme pain. Her womb would be under attack as the dark magic flows through her child, changing them on an atomic level. She was told its a pain that she will need to be awake for and not numbed. 

She had figured Malfoy's sacrifice would be similar, if not much less. She had thought she had the worst end of the deal. 

Malfoy had to give up any hope of having a child with the women he loved dearly. His wife, who he buried not too long ago. Hermione felt her eyes water and she sat in a patch of grass surrounded by roses. 

She hadn't asked what he would have to do, or what Narcissa would have to do. Not knowing what to do with herself, Hermione lied on her side in the grass. She lightly ran her fingers over her stomach and reminded herself why this was all happening. For her and her child. 

Soon to be Malfoy's child as well. What does that even look like in a war? Her and Malfoy couldn't be a happy family, not until this war was won. However she supposed that Narcissa would insure that the baby and her would be taken care of. 

Oh. how she wanted Harry and Ron right now. It had been a couple months since they went on the hunt for horcruxes, leaving her behind. They would not allow her to accompany them in her condition. How things change in such a small amount of time. 

When she had first found out she was sickened, and then extremely angry. She found herself not caring about it for the first month. She could remember Harry saying that being on the run was no place for a mother-to-be, and that something awful could happen to her baby. She felt shame rush over her when she remembered being so mad that she yelled "Well good! I don't want it anyway!" 

She rubbed her belly more and felt silly when she whispered "I'm sorry I said that. I don't think I even meant it then."

When she sees them next, she would have to explain that she not only does want her baby, but that it was now also Malfoy's baby. She'd explain that he had done more to save her life then she would expect from ever her close friends. That he did it, risking his life and his happiness, because it was the right thing to do. 

She sighed and sat back up looking at the Manor. She never would have thought it, but Draco Malfoy, might be the most selfless man she had ever met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I am sorry that this chapter is so late. You see, I was supposed to be getting married on the 16th of May. Now, with Covid-19, I had to move it back a year. So, as you can guess, I have been extremely busy cancelling and rescheduling and contacting everyone and their mother to figure this out. 
> 
> ANYWAY. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. You have been awesome in the comments, and any advice you might have for me please let me know. I am pretty new to this and always could use the help.
> 
> Take care everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! My name is Rachel and it has been years since I wrote anything. Please be patient with me but always honest. My computer is being fixed currently and I am using an old tablet. So there are plenty of mistakes, but I hope to fix them later!


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